1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image photographing system, and more particularly to an image photographing and ordering method for allowing a user to photograph images and to order prints, and an image photographing device which can be used with the image photographing and ordering method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital still cameras, which have rapidly spread in recent years, are structured so that each includes an imaging device such as CCD, an optical image is photographed by the imaging device, and that an analog image signal obtained by the photographing is converted into digital image data, which is thereafter stored in an information storage medium such as Smart Media card. A user can obtain a photographic print of high image quality by sending a photo lab the image data obtained by the photographing and requesting that it create the photographic print. Also, the user can easily record the image expressed by the image data, easily on paper or the like by using a printer, which he/she possesses.
One way in which the digital still camera is especially superior to a conventional camera, wherein a silver halide photographic film is exposed to an image so as to record the image, is that the photographed image can be reproduced and displayed on a display unit then and there, thereby to check whether or not the photographing was successful. It is an unavoidable fact, however, that an expensive LCD must be adopted as the display component for displaying the image, when reduction in the size of the digital still camera is considered. It has accordingly been difficult to provide a digital still camera, which is as inexpensive as a lensed film unit employing the silver halide photographic film.
Incidentally, there are some digital still cameras, which have attained sharp curtailment in cost by omission of the LCD. Since such a digital still camera cannot immediately reproduce and display a photographed image, however, the advantage of the digital still camera is lost and thus such digital still cameras do not meet the needs of most users.
Also, when the digital still camera uses a 64 MB Smart Media card as a recording medium, for example, as many as 198 images can be saved in the recording medium (in a case where each of the images consists of 1280×960 pixels and has a data amount of 312 kB). Since the recording medium is expensive as compared with the silver halide photographic film, however, an initial cost for photographing images with the digital still camera is high.
Further, in the case where the user sends the image data obtained by the photographing to the photo lab and requests that it creates the photographic prints, a separate recording medium is required in order to photograph further images with the digital still camera while the photographic prints are being created at the photo lab. Also, the user requires a personal computer (PC) or a printer in order to record the photographed images on paper or the like.
As stated above, the digital still camera itself is expensive as are the recording media and peripheral equipment, which are required in order to use the digital still camera. These factors have been obstacles to the popularization of digital still cameras, and it has been difficult for digital still cameras to meet the demands of users, such as a desire to be able to readily obtain a digital still camera and request printing of favorites from among the photographed images, as in the case of lensed film units.